The United Arab Emirates, represented by the Ministry of Finance, participated in the Eighth Annual Meeting of the Board of Governors of the New Development Bank (NDB) of the BRICS countries, which was held on May 30-31 in Shanghai, China, under the theme “Shaping a New Era for Global Development”.
The Ministry’s team participating in the meeting included His Excellency Younis Haji Al Khoori, Undersecretary of Ministry of Finance; Thuraya Al Hashemi, Director of Relations and International Financial Organisations at the Ministry of Finance; and Marwa Rashid Al Mahmood, Ministry of Finance, International Financial Organizations Affairs Executive.
His Excellency Younis Haji Al Khoori highlighted the significance of the meeting, which serves as a vital platform for enhancing international cooperation in the fields of infrastructure and sustainable development. Discussions in the meeting focused on challenges related to achieving global development, especially in light of changes that impacted economic and social development. This specifically included the repercussions of the COVID-19 pandemic on disrupting supply chains and global trade and finance networks, as well as increasing financial market volatilities. All of which called for the adoption of cutting-edge drivers, directions and solutions to advance productivity and achieve sustainable development goals.
His Excellency said: “The current phase calls for strengthening cooperation between various emerging and developing economies to enhance governance frameworks at a global level. The New Development Bank plays a pivotal role in strengthening partnership relations between the BRICS countries to mobilise resources and consolidate infrastructure to achieve comprehensive and sustainable development.”
The Programme of the Eighth Annual Meeting of the Board of Governors of the New Development Bank included a series of seminars and workshops. The seminar of the New Development Bank Governors was on “Innovation Driving Global Development”. The profound challenges from the rewiring of globalisation, the reconfiguration of global supply chain, climate change, and fast-rising interest rates call for innovative solutions to enhance development policies, financing solutions and advanced digital infrastructure. This is in addition to establishing a new structure for global partnerships in the international development field based on mutual benefit to support economic growth and achieve comprehensive, sustainable and environmentally friendly development.
During his intervention at the seminar, His Excellency Al Khoori emphasised the importance of adopting an innovative approach to policy-making as well as enabling open data initiatives that would support digital platforms that offer solutions for idea exchange, encourage cooperation in real-time, and solve problems collectively.
“We emphasise the need for cooperation and encouraging public-private partnerships to enhance development efforts. We can achieve this by providing innovative financing solutions that support economic and social development, such as blended finance, building an innovative development mindset that contributes to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals and the Paris Climate Agreement. By uniting our efforts on achieving these objectives, we will not only solve major global issues but also create enormous prospects for fostering innovation, collaboration, and economic prosperity.”
Another high-level seminar was held on “Resource Mobilization for Connectivity in the Digital Era” highlighted the need to understand the challenges and opportunities associated with the digital transformation and its impact on the global economic landscape. This is in order to enhance international cooperation in various business sectors and support global supply chains, which necessitates reshaping global trade in the digital age, coordinating international policies and exchanging technical expertise to avoid digital divide.
The third seminar discussed the implications imposed by the COVID-19 pandemic on the global governance system, as well as means of strengthening comprehensive international cooperation to consolidate global partnerships and enhance the role of multilateral development banks in achieving comprehensive and sustainable development.
The UAE joined the membership of the BRICS New Development Bank (NDB) in October 2021, which was established with the purpose of mobilising resources for infrastructure and sustainable development projects in emerging markets and developing countries (EMDCs) and BRICS countries. Since its establishment, the Bank approved more than 90 projects totaling $32 billion to support areas such as transportation, water supply, clean energy, digital and social infrastructure as well as civil construction.
